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GPS 39.65919967278318, -8.825544464584812
The Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória, better known as Mosteiro da Batalha is a former Dominican monastery located in the village of Batalha, in the district of Leiria in the Centro region, province of Beira Litoral, in Portugal.
It was built in 1386 by King D. João I of Portugal as a thank you to the Virgin Mary for the victory over Castilian rivals in the battle of Aljubarrota. This monastery of the Order of São Domingos was built over two centuries until around 1563, during the reign of seven kings of Portugal, although since 1388 the first Dominican friars lived there.
An example of Portuguese late Gothic architecture, or Manueline style, it is considered a world heritage site by UNESCO, and on July 7, 2007 it was elected as one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal. It has been classified as a National Monument since 1910.
It has, since 2016, the status of National Pantheon.
History
At the start of work on the Monastery of Batalha, a small temple was built, the remains of which were still visible at the beginning of the 19th century. It was in this building ― Santa Maria-a-Velha, also known as Igreja Velha ― that mass was celebrated, giving support to the shipyard workers. It was a poor work, done with scarce resources.
In schematic traces, the evolution of the shipyard itself and the degree of progress of the works are known. It is known that the original project corresponds to the church, the cloister and the inherent monastic dependencies, such as the Chapter Room, sacristy, refectory and annexes. It is a model that is similar to the one adopted, in terms of internal structure, by the great Alcobaça monastery.
The Founder's Chapel, a funerary chapel, was added to this initial project by King D. João I himself, as was the funerary roundabout known as Capelas Imperfeitas, on the initiative of King D. Duarte.
The minor cloister and adjoining dependencies would be due to the initiative of King D. Afonso V, noting the lack of interest of D. João II in the building. He would once again receive royal favors with King Manuel I, but only until 1516 or 1517, that is, until his decision to decidedly favor the factory at the Jerónimos Monastery.
The Monastery was restored in the 19th century, under the direction of Luís Mouzinho de Albuquerque, according to the design of Thomas Pitt, an English traveler who had been to Portugal at the end of the 18th century, and who made the monastery known throughout Europe through of your engravings. In this restoration, the Monastery underwent more or less profound transformations, namely the destruction of two cloisters, next to the Imperfect Chapels and, in a context of extinction of religious orders in Portugal, the total removal of religious symbols, seeking to make the Monastery a glorious symbol of Dynasty of Avis and, above all, of its first generation (the so-called Illustrious Generation of Camões). The current configuration of the Founder's Chapel dates from that time and the popularization of the term Mosteiro da Batalha (celebrating Aljubarrota) to the detriment of Santa Maria da Vitória, in an attempt to definitively eradicate the designations that recall the religious past of the building.
National Pantheon
In 2016, the Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória, in Batalha, gained the status of National Pantheon, without prejudice to the practice of religious worship, together with the Jerónimos Monastery (Lisbon) as happened in 2003 with the Monastery of Santa Cruz (Coimbra) in relation to the original National Pantheon since 1966 in the Church of Santa Engrácia (Lisbon).
King D. João I, Queen D. Filipa de Lencastre, and some of their children are buried in the Monastery of Batalha (Infant D. Henrique, Infante D. João, Infanta D. Isabel and Infante D. Fernando ), as well as three other kings (D. Afonso V, D. João II, D. Duarte) and the Unknown Soldier.
Architecture
Architects
Afonso Domingues (period: 1388 to 1402?) is the first known master (after his death, he was cited in documents as "master of the monastery's work"). This architect owes the conception and general layout of the monastic complex, which included the church, sacristy, cloister and conventual facilities, such as the Chapter Room, the bedroom, the kitchen and the refectory. In the 14 years that Domingues worked on the monastery, he managed to build a large part of the church, the sacristy and two wings of the cloister, starting the Chapter Room.
David Huguet (1402? to 1438), a master of uncertain origin (English?), completed the work of Afonso Domingues, an architect with whom he had already worked, completing the church, the monastic dependencies and the main portico. Huguet intervened in the work following a style distinct from his predecessor, introducing innovative architectural and decorative formulas, notable in the column decorations and, above all, in the famous vault of the Chapter Room, immortalized by Alexandre Herculano. The entire church would have already been finished in 1426, according to what can be deduced from the will of King João I written in that year and from the presence of the coat of arms of that same monarch in the closing of the vault of the Chapter. Huguet was also credited with the radical planning of the Founder's Chapel and the Imperfect Chapels — the first, the wish of D. João, was completely built (ca. 1425 to 1434); the second, commissioned by D. Duarte, and with the same purpose as a family pantheon, are, as the name implies, imperfect (unfinished).
Martim Vasques (1438 to 1448?), Huguet's dresser, succeeded him as master builder. During his period of leadership, approximately during the regency of D. Pedro, he did not carry out work of great value, limiting himself to completing work on the convent premises.
Fernão d'Évora (1448 to 1477), Vasques' nephew, coordinated the works during the reign of King Afonso V. Évora built the monastery's second cloister, known as the Afonsine cloister, which he conceived in a new style (Franciscan Gothic), much more sober and stripped down than Huguet's motif and flamboyant style.
Mestre Guilherme (1477 to 1480), about whose work little is known.
Mateus Fernandes I (1480) succeeded William and was dismissed in August of the same year.
João Rodrigues (1480 to 1485?), a master glassmaker, was an influential person who deserved the king's trust. However, he did not spend much time ahead of the projects. After about five years in Batalha, he went on to lead the work on the Paços de Sintra.
João de Arruda (1485? to 1490?), about whom little is known, except that he worked in Évora and was buried in the Church of Santa Maria-a-Velha in Batalha, demolished in the 1960s.
Mateus Fernandes I (1490? to 1515), Master Guilherme's son-in-law, returned to direct the works and remained there until his death, and is now buried at the entrance to the nave, reflecting unrivaled prestige. Mateus Fernandes was one of the most important masters of Batalha, working during the reign of King Manuel I, thus introducing the Manueline style, inspired by the Discoveries. This master owes the second constructive moment of the Imperfect Chapels, which remained incomplete, as well as the magnificent entrance portal (dated 1509). Boytac, author of the first sketches of the Jerónimos, even though he was never a master builder at Batalha, was a master builder in the kingdom, and would have carried out several works, namely the cloister, characterized by its flags and a certain Moorish atmosphere created around it. from the fountain, all in a contrasting style to Fernandes'.
Mateus Fernandes II (1516 to 1528), son of the former, continued his father's work, as he had already done during his absence.
João de Castilho (1528 to 1532), one of the great Portuguese and European architects of the 16th century, walks towards the Renaissance, designing the Renaissance balcony that surpasses the portal of the Imperfect Chapels and the vault that connects them to the church.
Miguel de Arruda (1533 to 1563?), appointed in 1548 Master of works on the walls and fortifications of the kingdom, places d’Além and India by D. João III, had little activity in Batalha. However, he was certainly responsible for the project to expand the convent to the east, carried out in the mid-16th centuries. It included two new cloisters and a gatehouse, buildings that were demolished during restoration work in the second half of the 19th century.
Areas
Church
Due to the grandeur of the church (80 meters long, 22 meters wide and 32.5 meters high), it is easy to see the enormous importance that King João I wanted to give to the entire monastery complex. This central area of the monument is shaped like a Latin cross, with the long arm divided into three naves with eight bays. The transept is voluminous, imposing itself as it is almost the height of the nave. The chevet is structured in five polygonal chapels, with the main chapel, in the centre, being higher and deeper.
Chancel
The main chapel appears to have been finished at a later date, with its triumphal arch, and two phases of work on the side chapels can also be considered. In the zone of the cloistered dependencies, it is possible that the works advanced more quickly than in the body of the temple. The north and west galleries would have already been built, but it was Huguet who would have finished those on the south and east sides (all of them with seven spans), respecting, however, the previous layout, with vaults in crossing with large keys joined by a longitudinal chain, without corbels , resting on thin columns on either side of the walls.
Chapter Room
It was up to the same master Huguet to finish the famous Chapter Room where it stands today, since 1921, permanently evoking the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Portuguese hero, illuminated by the “Flame of the Fatherland” of the Monumental Lamp, executed by Lourenço Chaves de Almeida and designed by Master Antonio Goncalves.
Its architecture, with a square plan, is covered by a single-flight star vault. This vault is, in fact, a work of remarkable Gothic constructive technique, being formed by sixteen radial ribs, eight launched from the walls, the rest launched from the secondary exterior keys, converging on a large central key with vegetal decoration, developed in two crowns. The outer face of this room, facing the cloister's gallery, is formed by a central portal with a deep opening ― with five archivolts on the outside and four on the inside ―, the opening decorated with radiating mushrooms. On each side, there are two large broken openings, each filled by two twin windows with a flag carved and laced according to flamboyant Gothic precepts. They are surmounted by an oculus.
The chapter room has figurative ornamentation worthy of note: the dominant program is mariological, with two capitals in the south window facing the crast representing an Annunciation, with the virgin on the right and the angel on the left. Our Lady holds a vessel with her right arm ― her lap is adorned with a necklace of pendants in the shape of a hand (apotropaic signs) ― and the angel the typical phylcateria wrapped around the body.
Another well-known iconographic element is the representation, in one of the corbels, of what is supposed to be, with good reason, the master mason, in a portrait formula (the expression of the face is notoriously individual). Dressed in early 15th-century attire, a tunic belted with a sash, a hat with a traced turban and pendant, he holds a ruler in his left hand, with the other hand resting on his right knee.
The Chapter Room was a funerary chapel, receiving, from 1481, the tomb of D. Afonso V and his wife Isabel de Coimbra and, ten years later, the tomb of their grandson, son Prince Dom Afonso of Portugal, the only descendant of D. João II. In 1901 the mortal remains were transferred to the Founder's Chapel.
Founder's chapel
One of the most important buildings adjacent to the monastery and which indelibly marks its «royal» character, being quite illuminating as to the intentions involved, is precisely the so-called Founder's Chapel. It is a construction located to the right of the temple, leaning against the outer flank of the south nave, through which the entrance is made. It has a square plan, in which an octagon is inscribed in the center, which develops in volume upwards, at the level of its second floor – an octagon that also functions as a lantern. This chapel was designed by master Huguet and was still under construction in 1426, being completed shortly after the death of the monarch, who was transferred there, along with the queen's body, a year later (1434).
From the outside, it imposes itself as a homogeneous mass, accentuating the horizontality of the temple's frontispiece. It offers three free faces, each of which is rhythmed by two buttresses, and where three large windows are torn, with the one wider than the others. Above, the exterior of the central octagon stands out, from which eight whitened flying buttresses rest on the outer buttresses, which extend in pinnacled pegs beyond the terrace. The set is topped off by a frieze of flaming grillwork. Originally, the octagon was crowned by a large spire in a needle, which collapsed with the earthquake of 1755.
Inside, light pours in from the large windows on the façade and from the openings of two lights on each side of the central octagon. It is a diaphanous light, which focuses particularly on the center of the monument, where the mausoleum of the king and queen stands. The vault is complex, formed by cross arches that, starting from sticks embedded in the walls, meet central keys, from which the ribs dump their weight on the sticks on the outer face of the central octagon, thus composing a kind of ship or ambulatory.
The octagon itself, in the center of the building, is formed by eight composite pillars, with bundled columns and opens through eight pointed arches with the soffit decorated with three-lobed rails. Its interior has "two floors": the lower floor corresponds to the pillars and arches, while the lantern windows are on the upper floor. The vault of this central body is also starred, with eight main arms, eight tercelets and sixteen secondary ribs, supported by eight radial keys and a central key of large diameter, showing the tracery, in the middle of which the arms are inscribed in relief. real. The walls have solid arches that shelter the tombs of the princes of Avis: D. Pedro, his wife and D. Fernando. The tombs inside the broken back niche with an exterior archivolt in countercurve, have frontals in relief decorated with the coats of arms of the princes, framed by floral ornamentation, being in its entirety one of the first and most profuse sets of large family heraldry existing in Portugal , according, incidentally, to schemes certainly imported from England. Other empty solid arches predicted more tomb depositions, but were discarded in view of D. Duarte's decision to build a new pantheon, only to be filled in 1901.
Pantheon of D. Duarte
The Pantheon of D. Duarte, also known as Capelas Imperfeitas, was planned taking into account a rigorous reading of the will of D. João I, with that monarch choosing to create his own funerary space. Thus, D. Duarte began the construction of a roundabout behind the head. In any case, the works, also carried out by Huguet, were not finished, since their construction began roughly in 1434, the monarch having died four years later, leaving them incomplete. But the layout was certainly outlined and the works of the following reigns were slowly trying to complete the building, but the main thing remained to be done: the launching of the great central vault. Contrary to what one might think, this operation did not pose major technical problems since the gap to be covered was slightly larger than that existing in the Chapter Room.
It was, in fact, a building with an octagonal central body and an axis entrance (articulated with the chevet by a vaulted atrium), around which seven radiant chapels were arranged. Rising from the large solid polystyle blocks that make up the structure, an octagonal body would rise, provided with large windows, vaulted and duly supported by flying buttresses, planned to configure a wide space with a completely unified centered plan. The existing chapels open onto the enclosure through large broken ribbed arches, each with a straight choir and a prismatic top on three sides, with a single large window with two lights on each side and a ribbed vault covering. Between the chapels, serving as a reinforcement, there are six small areas with a triangular plan, without access, lower than the chapels and externally decorated with a large window.
In the chapels, a later finish and more care was given to the one that was destined to receive the mausoleum of D. João II and D. Leonor, with the works being sponsored by the queen. The date of this intervention is difficult to determine, and it may be quite late. In any case, the decoration of this section reaches truly astonishing proportions, being a unique example of Portuguese Gothic. The ribs are ribbed, with secondary ribs with a purely sculptural function, but with small keys in an inverted cusp, decorated with trepanned plant motifs, the larger keys being laced, showing, in turn, the royal arms and the «company body» of D. João II (the pelican) and Queen D. Leonor (the shrimp).
Refectory
The Refectory is covered by barrel vaults with four spans marked by general arches and supported by corbels on the surrounding frieze.
Royal Cloister
The Royal Cloister has a single floor with seven spans per wing, made up of broken arches, with different spans, with lacework flags supported by carved columns, between buttresses with projections, topped by pyramidal pinnacles. It has galleries covered by cross vaults with warheads with a longitudinal chain, supported by fasciculated half-columns with vegetal capitals on two floors, and topped with a platband laced with liz flowers. On the corner, an octagonal turret with a pyramidal top was built. Inside, there is a fountain with a lobed bowl and two staggered polylobed bowls, the first with semi-vegetal masks. It has a vaulted roof with an ogive cross with a chain, supported by fasciculated pillars.
Cloister D. Afonso V
The D. Afonso V Cloister has two floors, the first with seven spans per wing marked by buttresses between double broken arches resting on faceted columns grouped transversely on a wall. It has vaulted galleries with crossbows with robust cross arches, supported by smooth conical corbels. The second floor has a porch resting on prismatic columns over a parapet and diagonal buttresses that go up to the eaves.
The importance of the Batalha shipyard gave rise to other shipyards that reflect the contributions of the late Gothic, almost always the result of the recruitment of officers or secondary masters who did their training there.
Avis Gothic
From the outside, the Monastery also denounces the intervention of two works. The temple's south portal, clearly designed by Afonso Domingues, betrays this simplicity of processes. This portal, incidentally, is important for what it reveals about its attachment to «Portuguese» layouts: two slender buttresses (the proportions are reminiscent of the small and simple side portal of the Main Church of Santiago do Cacém), frame a span of four archivolts decorated with repetitive reliefs in series of blind arches. The colonnades are equipped with capitals with vegetal decoration in «two floors». The mirror on the door is three-lobed, with intersecting fillets. Almost certainly a later finish is the very sharp triangular gable, decorated on the extrados with mushrooms and, on the face, with royal heraldry (the shields of D. Filipa and D. João I, topped by the coat of arms of the kingdom, all with canopies like crowning).
But Huguet's task was also responsible for designing most of the frontispieces, carrying with them a new architectural language, another Gothic.
In fact, there is no doubt that the Batalha Monastery will become a testament to the royal power and autonomy of a kingdom. It is known how it was necessary to impose, through legal and diplomatic treatment, the right of D. João I to the throne. It is also known about the opposition of the half-brothers of D. João and his niece D. Beatriz to his pretensions; and it is known to what extent relations with the neighboring kingdom were problematic. The fact that D. João I had a pantheon built for himself and his family is a sign of this unprecedented dynastic mystique. The Monastery of Batalha was a project to legitimize a new dynasty, the Avis dynasty: hence the size of the work ― a sign of financial capacity and power of realization.
Indeed, the Batalha Monastery differs from the rest of Portuguese architecture and stands out in the national artistic landscape with its sign of change. The decoration, the finish and the finish, in addition to the final option of the works, already according to schemes of what is conventionally called final Gothic, are its main distinguishing elements. Some aspects that distinguish this new mode of Portuguese Gothic from the first dynasty are easy to state, since, globally, the plastic and ornamental treatment of the building's exterior has valuable indications as to what would become, from here, the orientation of the 15th-century architecture from the post-battle phase.
Great attention is immediately paid to the decoration of surfaces. It is worth noting the «horizontal» marking of the facades by lines made of projections (cornices or lacrimals), running throughout the building; the filling of all openings ― windows, crevices ― with flamboyant tracery ― as in the large window on the façade that thus replaces the usual rose window. It is worth emphasizing the way in which the walls (or even the buttresses) come to life through the chiaroscuro play of friezes of flaming nets ― for example, the embossed stilettos on the alfiz or the large window wall, the railings on the terraces and the proportioned flowered pinnacles. Other new factors are also perceived: the structural simplification of elevations; the complexity of the supports, from the pillars to the small columns ― which become increasingly thin and multiplied, with thin columns and drumsticks appearing; the demultiplication of the frames in elevation now showing very varied profiles in terms of their cutout and their intersection; in these, the appearance of the countercurved arch; the flattening of the vaults and the appearance of complex systems of ribs, unfolding the number of keys and triplets (as in the starred vaults); the spread of vegetal decoration but only in concentrated points (such as the capitals); the return to allegorical and narrative figuration (also in concentrated areas); the exhibition of architecture as architecture, or its abstraction, being a support house or structural theme treated as if it were a reality in itself, a kind of crystalline and mineral form, and, above all, the dramatic accentuation of the use of heraldry.
This is called late Gothic, meaning by this to designate a period in which the different modes of construction were regionalized, regardless of whether the architects in question were from foreign origins. These obey orders determined by local political will, explore new means in the shipyard where they are called to work and free themselves from the most current canons of international Gothic, usually called "classical".
As for the importance of heraldry, it is known that the disciplining of Portuguese armorial is certainly the result of the action of King D. João I, for reasons that are also related to the exercise of power, with its centralization and the call to itself (and to the House of Avis) of an outline of concentrated power, which met the needs of legitimation. The importance accorded to heraldry in the Monastery of Batalha (an extremely regimented heraldry, that is, executed strictly and without concessions to any type of inconsistency of codes) is, therefore, the starting point for a symbolic protagonism of the coat of arms in later works, this being visible on the outside of the building (south portal and axial portal) or other areas of posterior finishing.
Plan
Subtitle:
1 -Gothic portal and Manueline window
2 -Church
3- Founder's Chapel
4- Chapter room (Tomb of the Unknown Soldier)
5- Royal Cloister
6 -Toilet
7- Former Refectory (Museum of Offerings or Room of the Unknown Soldier)
8- Dormitory
9- Cloister of D. Afonso V
10- Porta Manuelina
11- Imperfect chapels
12- Tomb of D. Duarte I and Leonora de Aragão
13- Largo de D. João III, the old cloister under construction, razed
14- Equestrian statue of Constable Nuno Alvares Pereira.
Photo gallery:
Versão portuguesa aqui.
GPS 39.65919967278318, -8.825544464584812
The Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória, better known as Mosteiro da Batalha is a former Dominican monastery located in the village of Batalha, in the district of Leiria in the Centro region, province of Beira Litoral, in Portugal.
It was built in 1386 by King D. João I of Portugal as a thank you to the Virgin Mary for the victory over Castilian rivals in the battle of Aljubarrota. This monastery of the Order of São Domingos was built over two centuries until around 1563, during the reign of seven kings of Portugal, although since 1388 the first Dominican friars lived there.
An example of Portuguese late Gothic architecture, or Manueline style, it is considered a world heritage site by UNESCO, and on July 7, 2007 it was elected as one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal. It has been classified as a National Monument since 1910.
It has, since 2016, the status of National Pantheon.
History
At the start of work on the Monastery of Batalha, a small temple was built, the remains of which were still visible at the beginning of the 19th century. It was in this building ― Santa Maria-a-Velha, also known as Igreja Velha ― that mass was celebrated, giving support to the shipyard workers. It was a poor work, done with scarce resources.
In schematic traces, the evolution of the shipyard itself and the degree of progress of the works are known. It is known that the original project corresponds to the church, the cloister and the inherent monastic dependencies, such as the Chapter Room, sacristy, refectory and annexes. It is a model that is similar to the one adopted, in terms of internal structure, by the great Alcobaça monastery.
The Founder's Chapel, a funerary chapel, was added to this initial project by King D. João I himself, as was the funerary roundabout known as Capelas Imperfeitas, on the initiative of King D. Duarte.
The minor cloister and adjoining dependencies would be due to the initiative of King D. Afonso V, noting the lack of interest of D. João II in the building. He would once again receive royal favors with King Manuel I, but only until 1516 or 1517, that is, until his decision to decidedly favor the factory at the Jerónimos Monastery.
The Monastery was restored in the 19th century, under the direction of Luís Mouzinho de Albuquerque, according to the design of Thomas Pitt, an English traveler who had been to Portugal at the end of the 18th century, and who made the monastery known throughout Europe through of your engravings. In this restoration, the Monastery underwent more or less profound transformations, namely the destruction of two cloisters, next to the Imperfect Chapels and, in a context of extinction of religious orders in Portugal, the total removal of religious symbols, seeking to make the Monastery a glorious symbol of Dynasty of Avis and, above all, of its first generation (the so-called Illustrious Generation of Camões). The current configuration of the Founder's Chapel dates from that time and the popularization of the term Mosteiro da Batalha (celebrating Aljubarrota) to the detriment of Santa Maria da Vitória, in an attempt to definitively eradicate the designations that recall the religious past of the building.
National Pantheon
In 2016, the Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória, in Batalha, gained the status of National Pantheon, without prejudice to the practice of religious worship, together with the Jerónimos Monastery (Lisbon) as happened in 2003 with the Monastery of Santa Cruz (Coimbra) in relation to the original National Pantheon since 1966 in the Church of Santa Engrácia (Lisbon).
King D. João I, Queen D. Filipa de Lencastre, and some of their children are buried in the Monastery of Batalha (Infant D. Henrique, Infante D. João, Infanta D. Isabel and Infante D. Fernando ), as well as three other kings (D. Afonso V, D. João II, D. Duarte) and the Unknown Soldier.
Architecture
Architects
Afonso Domingues (period: 1388 to 1402?) is the first known master (after his death, he was cited in documents as "master of the monastery's work"). This architect owes the conception and general layout of the monastic complex, which included the church, sacristy, cloister and conventual facilities, such as the Chapter Room, the bedroom, the kitchen and the refectory. In the 14 years that Domingues worked on the monastery, he managed to build a large part of the church, the sacristy and two wings of the cloister, starting the Chapter Room.
David Huguet (1402? to 1438), a master of uncertain origin (English?), completed the work of Afonso Domingues, an architect with whom he had already worked, completing the church, the monastic dependencies and the main portico. Huguet intervened in the work following a style distinct from his predecessor, introducing innovative architectural and decorative formulas, notable in the column decorations and, above all, in the famous vault of the Chapter Room, immortalized by Alexandre Herculano. The entire church would have already been finished in 1426, according to what can be deduced from the will of King João I written in that year and from the presence of the coat of arms of that same monarch in the closing of the vault of the Chapter. Huguet was also credited with the radical planning of the Founder's Chapel and the Imperfect Chapels — the first, the wish of D. João, was completely built (ca. 1425 to 1434); the second, commissioned by D. Duarte, and with the same purpose as a family pantheon, are, as the name implies, imperfect (unfinished).
Martim Vasques (1438 to 1448?), Huguet's dresser, succeeded him as master builder. During his period of leadership, approximately during the regency of D. Pedro, he did not carry out work of great value, limiting himself to completing work on the convent premises.
Fernão d'Évora (1448 to 1477), Vasques' nephew, coordinated the works during the reign of King Afonso V. Évora built the monastery's second cloister, known as the Afonsine cloister, which he conceived in a new style (Franciscan Gothic), much more sober and stripped down than Huguet's motif and flamboyant style.
Mestre Guilherme (1477 to 1480), about whose work little is known.
Mateus Fernandes I (1480) succeeded William and was dismissed in August of the same year.
João Rodrigues (1480 to 1485?), a master glassmaker, was an influential person who deserved the king's trust. However, he did not spend much time ahead of the projects. After about five years in Batalha, he went on to lead the work on the Paços de Sintra.
João de Arruda (1485? to 1490?), about whom little is known, except that he worked in Évora and was buried in the Church of Santa Maria-a-Velha in Batalha, demolished in the 1960s.
Mateus Fernandes I (1490? to 1515), Master Guilherme's son-in-law, returned to direct the works and remained there until his death, and is now buried at the entrance to the nave, reflecting unrivaled prestige. Mateus Fernandes was one of the most important masters of Batalha, working during the reign of King Manuel I, thus introducing the Manueline style, inspired by the Discoveries. This master owes the second constructive moment of the Imperfect Chapels, which remained incomplete, as well as the magnificent entrance portal (dated 1509). Boytac, author of the first sketches of the Jerónimos, even though he was never a master builder at Batalha, was a master builder in the kingdom, and would have carried out several works, namely the cloister, characterized by its flags and a certain Moorish atmosphere created around it. from the fountain, all in a contrasting style to Fernandes'.
Mateus Fernandes II (1516 to 1528), son of the former, continued his father's work, as he had already done during his absence.
João de Castilho (1528 to 1532), one of the great Portuguese and European architects of the 16th century, walks towards the Renaissance, designing the Renaissance balcony that surpasses the portal of the Imperfect Chapels and the vault that connects them to the church.
Miguel de Arruda (1533 to 1563?), appointed in 1548 Master of works on the walls and fortifications of the kingdom, places d’Além and India by D. João III, had little activity in Batalha. However, he was certainly responsible for the project to expand the convent to the east, carried out in the mid-16th centuries. It included two new cloisters and a gatehouse, buildings that were demolished during restoration work in the second half of the 19th century.
Areas
Church
Due to the grandeur of the church (80 meters long, 22 meters wide and 32.5 meters high), it is easy to see the enormous importance that King João I wanted to give to the entire monastery complex. This central area of the monument is shaped like a Latin cross, with the long arm divided into three naves with eight bays. The transept is voluminous, imposing itself as it is almost the height of the nave. The chevet is structured in five polygonal chapels, with the main chapel, in the centre, being higher and deeper.
Chancel
The main chapel appears to have been finished at a later date, with its triumphal arch, and two phases of work on the side chapels can also be considered. In the zone of the cloistered dependencies, it is possible that the works advanced more quickly than in the body of the temple. The north and west galleries would have already been built, but it was Huguet who would have finished those on the south and east sides (all of them with seven spans), respecting, however, the previous layout, with vaults in crossing with large keys joined by a longitudinal chain, without corbels , resting on thin columns on either side of the walls.
Chapter Room
It was up to the same master Huguet to finish the famous Chapter Room where it stands today, since 1921, permanently evoking the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Portuguese hero, illuminated by the “Flame of the Fatherland” of the Monumental Lamp, executed by Lourenço Chaves de Almeida and designed by Master Antonio Goncalves.
Its architecture, with a square plan, is covered by a single-flight star vault. This vault is, in fact, a work of remarkable Gothic constructive technique, being formed by sixteen radial ribs, eight launched from the walls, the rest launched from the secondary exterior keys, converging on a large central key with vegetal decoration, developed in two crowns. The outer face of this room, facing the cloister's gallery, is formed by a central portal with a deep opening ― with five archivolts on the outside and four on the inside ―, the opening decorated with radiating mushrooms. On each side, there are two large broken openings, each filled by two twin windows with a flag carved and laced according to flamboyant Gothic precepts. They are surmounted by an oculus.
The chapter room has figurative ornamentation worthy of note: the dominant program is mariological, with two capitals in the south window facing the crast representing an Annunciation, with the virgin on the right and the angel on the left. Our Lady holds a vessel with her right arm ― her lap is adorned with a necklace of pendants in the shape of a hand (apotropaic signs) ― and the angel the typical phylcateria wrapped around the body.
Another well-known iconographic element is the representation, in one of the corbels, of what is supposed to be, with good reason, the master mason, in a portrait formula (the expression of the face is notoriously individual). Dressed in early 15th-century attire, a tunic belted with a sash, a hat with a traced turban and pendant, he holds a ruler in his left hand, with the other hand resting on his right knee.
The Chapter Room was a funerary chapel, receiving, from 1481, the tomb of D. Afonso V and his wife Isabel de Coimbra and, ten years later, the tomb of their grandson, son Prince Dom Afonso of Portugal, the only descendant of D. João II. In 1901 the mortal remains were transferred to the Founder's Chapel.
Founder's chapel
One of the most important buildings adjacent to the monastery and which indelibly marks its «royal» character, being quite illuminating as to the intentions involved, is precisely the so-called Founder's Chapel. It is a construction located to the right of the temple, leaning against the outer flank of the south nave, through which the entrance is made. It has a square plan, in which an octagon is inscribed in the center, which develops in volume upwards, at the level of its second floor – an octagon that also functions as a lantern. This chapel was designed by master Huguet and was still under construction in 1426, being completed shortly after the death of the monarch, who was transferred there, along with the queen's body, a year later (1434).
From the outside, it imposes itself as a homogeneous mass, accentuating the horizontality of the temple's frontispiece. It offers three free faces, each of which is rhythmed by two buttresses, and where three large windows are torn, with the one wider than the others. Above, the exterior of the central octagon stands out, from which eight whitened flying buttresses rest on the outer buttresses, which extend in pinnacled pegs beyond the terrace. The set is topped off by a frieze of flaming grillwork. Originally, the octagon was crowned by a large spire in a needle, which collapsed with the earthquake of 1755.
Inside, light pours in from the large windows on the façade and from the openings of two lights on each side of the central octagon. It is a diaphanous light, which focuses particularly on the center of the monument, where the mausoleum of the king and queen stands. The vault is complex, formed by cross arches that, starting from sticks embedded in the walls, meet central keys, from which the ribs dump their weight on the sticks on the outer face of the central octagon, thus composing a kind of ship or ambulatory.
The octagon itself, in the center of the building, is formed by eight composite pillars, with bundled columns and opens through eight pointed arches with the soffit decorated with three-lobed rails. Its interior has "two floors": the lower floor corresponds to the pillars and arches, while the lantern windows are on the upper floor. The vault of this central body is also starred, with eight main arms, eight tercelets and sixteen secondary ribs, supported by eight radial keys and a central key of large diameter, showing the tracery, in the middle of which the arms are inscribed in relief. real. The walls have solid arches that shelter the tombs of the princes of Avis: D. Pedro, his wife and D. Fernando. The tombs inside the broken back niche with an exterior archivolt in countercurve, have frontals in relief decorated with the coats of arms of the princes, framed by floral ornamentation, being in its entirety one of the first and most profuse sets of large family heraldry existing in Portugal , according, incidentally, to schemes certainly imported from England. Other empty solid arches predicted more tomb depositions, but were discarded in view of D. Duarte's decision to build a new pantheon, only to be filled in 1901.
Pantheon of D. Duarte
The Pantheon of D. Duarte, also known as Capelas Imperfeitas, was planned taking into account a rigorous reading of the will of D. João I, with that monarch choosing to create his own funerary space. Thus, D. Duarte began the construction of a roundabout behind the head. In any case, the works, also carried out by Huguet, were not finished, since their construction began roughly in 1434, the monarch having died four years later, leaving them incomplete. But the layout was certainly outlined and the works of the following reigns were slowly trying to complete the building, but the main thing remained to be done: the launching of the great central vault. Contrary to what one might think, this operation did not pose major technical problems since the gap to be covered was slightly larger than that existing in the Chapter Room.
It was, in fact, a building with an octagonal central body and an axis entrance (articulated with the chevet by a vaulted atrium), around which seven radiant chapels were arranged. Rising from the large solid polystyle blocks that make up the structure, an octagonal body would rise, provided with large windows, vaulted and duly supported by flying buttresses, planned to configure a wide space with a completely unified centered plan. The existing chapels open onto the enclosure through large broken ribbed arches, each with a straight choir and a prismatic top on three sides, with a single large window with two lights on each side and a ribbed vault covering. Between the chapels, serving as a reinforcement, there are six small areas with a triangular plan, without access, lower than the chapels and externally decorated with a large window.
In the chapels, a later finish and more care was given to the one that was destined to receive the mausoleum of D. João II and D. Leonor, with the works being sponsored by the queen. The date of this intervention is difficult to determine, and it may be quite late. In any case, the decoration of this section reaches truly astonishing proportions, being a unique example of Portuguese Gothic. The ribs are ribbed, with secondary ribs with a purely sculptural function, but with small keys in an inverted cusp, decorated with trepanned plant motifs, the larger keys being laced, showing, in turn, the royal arms and the «company body» of D. João II (the pelican) and Queen D. Leonor (the shrimp).
Refectory
The Refectory is covered by barrel vaults with four spans marked by general arches and supported by corbels on the surrounding frieze.
Royal Cloister
The Royal Cloister has a single floor with seven spans per wing, made up of broken arches, with different spans, with lacework flags supported by carved columns, between buttresses with projections, topped by pyramidal pinnacles. It has galleries covered by cross vaults with warheads with a longitudinal chain, supported by fasciculated half-columns with vegetal capitals on two floors, and topped with a platband laced with liz flowers. On the corner, an octagonal turret with a pyramidal top was built. Inside, there is a fountain with a lobed bowl and two staggered polylobed bowls, the first with semi-vegetal masks. It has a vaulted roof with an ogive cross with a chain, supported by fasciculated pillars.
Cloister D. Afonso V
The D. Afonso V Cloister has two floors, the first with seven spans per wing marked by buttresses between double broken arches resting on faceted columns grouped transversely on a wall. It has vaulted galleries with crossbows with robust cross arches, supported by smooth conical corbels. The second floor has a porch resting on prismatic columns over a parapet and diagonal buttresses that go up to the eaves.
The importance of the Batalha shipyard gave rise to other shipyards that reflect the contributions of the late Gothic, almost always the result of the recruitment of officers or secondary masters who did their training there.
Avis Gothic
From the outside, the Monastery also denounces the intervention of two works. The temple's south portal, clearly designed by Afonso Domingues, betrays this simplicity of processes. This portal, incidentally, is important for what it reveals about its attachment to «Portuguese» layouts: two slender buttresses (the proportions are reminiscent of the small and simple side portal of the Main Church of Santiago do Cacém), frame a span of four archivolts decorated with repetitive reliefs in series of blind arches. The colonnades are equipped with capitals with vegetal decoration in «two floors». The mirror on the door is three-lobed, with intersecting fillets. Almost certainly a later finish is the very sharp triangular gable, decorated on the extrados with mushrooms and, on the face, with royal heraldry (the shields of D. Filipa and D. João I, topped by the coat of arms of the kingdom, all with canopies like crowning).
But Huguet's task was also responsible for designing most of the frontispieces, carrying with them a new architectural language, another Gothic.
In fact, there is no doubt that the Batalha Monastery will become a testament to the royal power and autonomy of a kingdom. It is known how it was necessary to impose, through legal and diplomatic treatment, the right of D. João I to the throne. It is also known about the opposition of the half-brothers of D. João and his niece D. Beatriz to his pretensions; and it is known to what extent relations with the neighboring kingdom were problematic. The fact that D. João I had a pantheon built for himself and his family is a sign of this unprecedented dynastic mystique. The Monastery of Batalha was a project to legitimize a new dynasty, the Avis dynasty: hence the size of the work ― a sign of financial capacity and power of realization.
Indeed, the Batalha Monastery differs from the rest of Portuguese architecture and stands out in the national artistic landscape with its sign of change. The decoration, the finish and the finish, in addition to the final option of the works, already according to schemes of what is conventionally called final Gothic, are its main distinguishing elements. Some aspects that distinguish this new mode of Portuguese Gothic from the first dynasty are easy to state, since, globally, the plastic and ornamental treatment of the building's exterior has valuable indications as to what would become, from here, the orientation of the 15th-century architecture from the post-battle phase.
Great attention is immediately paid to the decoration of surfaces. It is worth noting the «horizontal» marking of the facades by lines made of projections (cornices or lacrimals), running throughout the building; the filling of all openings ― windows, crevices ― with flamboyant tracery ― as in the large window on the façade that thus replaces the usual rose window. It is worth emphasizing the way in which the walls (or even the buttresses) come to life through the chiaroscuro play of friezes of flaming nets ― for example, the embossed stilettos on the alfiz or the large window wall, the railings on the terraces and the proportioned flowered pinnacles. Other new factors are also perceived: the structural simplification of elevations; the complexity of the supports, from the pillars to the small columns ― which become increasingly thin and multiplied, with thin columns and drumsticks appearing; the demultiplication of the frames in elevation now showing very varied profiles in terms of their cutout and their intersection; in these, the appearance of the countercurved arch; the flattening of the vaults and the appearance of complex systems of ribs, unfolding the number of keys and triplets (as in the starred vaults); the spread of vegetal decoration but only in concentrated points (such as the capitals); the return to allegorical and narrative figuration (also in concentrated areas); the exhibition of architecture as architecture, or its abstraction, being a support house or structural theme treated as if it were a reality in itself, a kind of crystalline and mineral form, and, above all, the dramatic accentuation of the use of heraldry.
This is called late Gothic, meaning by this to designate a period in which the different modes of construction were regionalized, regardless of whether the architects in question were from foreign origins. These obey orders determined by local political will, explore new means in the shipyard where they are called to work and free themselves from the most current canons of international Gothic, usually called "classical".
As for the importance of heraldry, it is known that the disciplining of Portuguese armorial is certainly the result of the action of King D. João I, for reasons that are also related to the exercise of power, with its centralization and the call to itself (and to the House of Avis) of an outline of concentrated power, which met the needs of legitimation. The importance accorded to heraldry in the Monastery of Batalha (an extremely regimented heraldry, that is, executed strictly and without concessions to any type of inconsistency of codes) is, therefore, the starting point for a symbolic protagonism of the coat of arms in later works, this being visible on the outside of the building (south portal and axial portal) or other areas of posterior finishing.
Plan
Subtitle:
1 -Gothic portal and Manueline window
2 -Church
3- Founder's Chapel
4- Chapter room (Tomb of the Unknown Soldier)
5- Royal Cloister
6 -Toilet
7- Former Refectory (Museum of Offerings or Room of the Unknown Soldier)
8- Dormitory
9- Cloister of D. Afonso V
10- Porta Manuelina
11- Imperfect chapels
12- Tomb of D. Duarte I and Leonora de Aragão
13- Largo de D. João III, the old cloister under construction, razed
14- Equestrian statue of Constable Nuno Alvares Pereira.
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